Golden Globes: Surprises and sure things

Not to sound like a broken record here, but before we start discussing how this morning’s Golden Globe nominations may affect the Oscar race, it’s important to remember that there is absolutely no overlap between the voting bodies of the Globes and the Academy Awards. More often than not in the last decade, the eventual Oscar winner for Best Picture had not won the Globe. Nevertheless, it’s always interesting to see which films are gaining or losing momentum on any given day. So let’s look at the five biggest sure things and surprises from today’s announcement.

SURE THINGS

1. The Artist dominates with six nominations With its international cast, nostalgic tone, and delightful dance numbers, this movie was right up the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s street. It’s no wonder it scored the most nominations.

2. George Clooney scores a hat trick He was a lock for The Descendants, but I had been hearing for weeks that the HFPA also loved The Ides of March. Hence his two bonus nods for writing and directing that fantastic political drama, which also landed a Best Picture nod.

3. An A-list Best Actor field George, Brad, Leo, Ryan, and future A-lister Fassbender: With huge stars like that in the running, how could the amazing Gary Oldman, Woody Harrelson, or Demián Bichir have stood a chance?

4. Bridesmaids becomes the bride Considering the HFPA gave The Hangover Best Picture a few years back, it’s fitting that they also recognized what everyone called the female version for Best Picture and Best Actress (Kristen Wiig).

5. Angelina Jolie in the Best Foreign Language Film raceIn the Land of Blood and Honey isn’t eligible for the foreign category at the Oscars, but how could Globe voters pass up the chance to nominate her as a filmmaker? At least this citation isn’t embarrassing like last year’s Best Actress nod for The Tourist.

SURPRISES

1. Steven Spielberg skunked He’s had no fewer than 10 Best Director Globe nominations over the years. But despite War Horse’s inclusion in the Best Picture race, he himself was overlooked. At least he’s in good company: Terrence Malick didn’t make it in either.

2. No Melissa McCarthy… anywhere! It’s bad enough that the Emmy winner couldn’t pull off a Globe nod for her TV show. But to leave her out of the supporting-actress field for her outrageously funny Bridesmaids performance? Makes me want to pour ranch dressing all over the HFPA.

3. One word: Viggo The wonderfully peculiar Mortensen has been left out of every Best Supporting Actor list so far, but the costar of A Dangerous Method earned a surprising nod at the Globes over the likes of Nick Nolte, Armie Hammer, and Max von Sydow. Is it too little, too late?

4. Extremely Loud is extremely snubbed A Stephen Daldry film starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock goes completely empty-handed at the Globes nominations? Did the HFPA have enough time to see the last-minute entry?

5. Ryan x 2 I thought Gosling, with his amazing cinematic year, would have a shot at one Globe nod. But he landed two… but not for Drive, for which he earned a Broadcast Critics nod earlier this week. Instead his nominations were for The Ides of March and Crazy, Stupid, Love. Will the Academy coalesce around one of this three impressive turns? Or will this be an epically disappointing case of vote splitting?